Arizona Trip

Sammy and I went on a road trip to Arizona at the end of April and we had a wonderful time. Leading up to the trip I was getting really anxious about traveling while pregnant, especially because the original path we were going to take was right through the mountains. I get carsick on normal days; I did not want to see what my body had in store going through those winding roads at such a high elevation while pregnant. Honestly I thought about canceling multiple times because of how stressed out it was making me.

After a night filled with anxiety, I prayed to know whether I was supposed to go at all, and if I was what the best way to get there would be. The very next morning Sammy woke up and told me he'd been researching while I was sleeping a better route to take that wouldn't be in the middle of the mountains and would be on more major highways with bigger cities along the way. I instantly felt better and like that was the right way to go. 

The morning of the trip, Sammy wanted to be on the road by six. Previous Kylee might have been able to do that, but pregnant Kylee could not get out of bed at five, especially since I take a sleeping pill for nausea. We got out the door at 6:40ish and on the highway at 6:50. We stopped to get gas and ice for our cooler, and as I was filling up the car I saw Sammy pouring the ice out of the bag directly into the cooler. I told him to leave it in its bag since it would melt over everything and our stuff would just be floating in water by the time we got there, but he told me that wouldn't happen. I decided to close my mouth because sometimes, you just have to touch that hot stove to know what heat is. 

Since we left late, we hit Denver traffic which slowed us down. We drove as far as we could before I had to pee and went to the traditional first stop on all road trips- McDonald's breakfast. I'm so glad that Sammy agrees that McDonald's breakfast is the king of fast food breakfast.

I struggled with my first leg of driving and felt like I couldn't breathe for most of it. We were farther south in Colorado than I'd ever been, we were driving somewhere neither of us had ever been to, and I had no idea what to expect for the rest of the day. Every time we stopped at a gas station I just thought to myself how far we were from home, how much farther we had to go, and that we'd have to do it all again to get back. It was definitely not the healthiest of things to be thinking and I tried to employ my strategies to fight against bad thoughts but I was a goner. 

We love to listen to podcasts when we drive and we found a SUPER interesting true crime one, Dirty John that we listened to on the way there. It was so intriguing that we couldn't stop listening and I highly recommend it if you liked podcasts like Serial. The scariest thing was that I encounter people like this at the library who are not on that level, but who are just trying to get money from women on Matched.com. 

The scenery through New Mexico was beautiful, but our experiences at rest stops were not. At one, Sammy couldn't use the bathroom because someone was taking a bath, so we stopped at a Walmart. I waited in the car and was going to refill the cooler, but there was a man going from car to car, peeking in the windows and approaching people. I started driving in circles around the parking lot trying to get away from him and he started walking behind my car. Thankfully I crossed paths with Sammy as he was leaving and he got into the car quickly.

I ended up full on sobbing in the middle of the petrified forest because we'd been on the road twelve hours already, I had to pee and my phone said there were no restrooms for 22 miles, and we still had two hours to go. Sammy found a rest stop, we both had our meltdowns and a soda, and then we finished the drive. For our first night we stopped in Flagstaff and were honestly confused because it looks just like the mountain towns back home. Arizona was supposed to be deserts and hot, not filled with trees and freezing. 

In our little hotel room Sammy discovered that I was correct on the ice melting, we had a few laughs, then watched What Not To Wear together on the hotel tv. I freaking love that Sammy used to watch that show as well and how into it he was getting. 

The next morning we woke up early for the free breakfast and were surprised to find an entire tour bus of French people waiting in line outside the building. We were the only two not from their group and stood there awkwardly until the little diner opened up. Sammy snagged us some tables and I tried to get a spot in the line, but the French tourists did not form one. Instead it was a mob of getting pushed around and people weaving all over the place. I eventually was able to get food, and Sammy had made us waffles with the little waffle maker they had. Sammy taught a bunch of the French how to use it since they were standing there staring. Those were some of the best waffles I've had and I wish I knew what was in that batter. 

After breakfast we set off for the Grand Canyon. When we got there it was about 40 degrees and the wind was blowing. I hadn't brought a warm enough jacket, so Sammy was kind enough to let me use his while we dug a hoodie out from the trunk for him. :) Warmish, we headed out towards the southern rim. As Sammy and I approached it, I heard him gasp and he sounded like he was getting choked up. I felt it too.    

The canyon was so massive and beautiful and intricate, that it's honestly sad to look back on the pictures we got because they just can't capture all the little details you can see yourself, or just how deep it is. There was one spot where I looked over the edge and felt instantly dizzy because of how far down it went. How did water do this? 

We took some time and just sat on some rocks, staring out at the canyon. It was funny to watch everyone around us just struggling to get the perfect pictures. We watched people snap pictures of the edge, then walk away. They didn't even look at it. It was so nice to just be there with Sammy because we were able to take as much time as we wanted and just take it in, and didn't feel pressure to stay as long or as short as someone else wanted to.

We wanted to get lunch at the canyon which was a little confusing because of all the construction they had going on. I ended up going the wrong way on a one way road and the construction worker was just laughing at me. When we'd given up completely, Sammy found a spot at the last minute and we were able to finally eat, which is pretty much my favorite thing to do lately :)

After the Grand Canyon, we headed towards Sedona where the wedding and all of Sammy's family were. It was a beautiful drive and the closer we got to Sedona, the less it looked like Colorado with the rock formations. 

We were able to stay at a beautiful golf resort where the wedding was that looked just like High School Musical 2. As soon as Sammy and I got to our room, we laid down and tried to take a nap because we were wiped after walking all over the canyon. His family had started on the road that morning and we weren't expecting to see them for a few hours since it took us so long to get to Flagstaff the night before, and Sedona was even farther. We were pretty surprised when they arrived twenty minutes after us. It was so great to see them, and we all went out to a bar for dinner. For once, I didn't have to explain that I don't drink at all to people like I usually do. Since I'm pregnant, it wasn't even a question. 

Also, in all of the gas stations and at the Grand Canyon, there were signs anywhere liquor was served saying that drinking while pregnant can harm a baby, something I've never seen before. Is that an Arizona thing, or did we just happen to stop in the few places that had those. 

When we came back from dinner, Sammy and his brother saw a few of their younger cousins running around, so they chased after them and asked where their parents were so we could say hi. The younger cousins didn't recognize them, but they led us to their parents anyways. Everyone laughed pretty hard about the whole thing. 

The next day we went to explore downtown Sedona and meet up with my grandparents who live in Arizona. While looking for somewhere to go eat, we saw this road on the map and I made Sammy drive us to it so I could take a picture. We also saw a Mormon Canyon and a Mormon Lake while in Arizona, but we settled just stopping at the hill.

Downtown Sedona, or at least where we were, was really spread out. We were looking for a mall of strip of stores but couldn't find any. Instead there would be one or two, then you'd have to drive a few more blocks to find the next two stores. We stopped at a few stores, but they were all waaaaay out of our price range. Like, $40 for a cami expensive.

One of my favorite moments was when we were parkng and Bohemian Rhapsody came on. Sammy and I started singing it and stayed in the car until the whole song was finished. We've never done that before and I just loved  that we split up the parts and just went for it.

We found a bookstore on the map and asked my grandparents to meet us there, thinking that we could sit around inside and browse, but it was a little trailer of a building with only a few shelves, that also functioned as a UHaul drop off site. We waited in the parking lot for my grandparents and struggled to settle on a place to eat. I was very disappointed because we found an Extraterrestrial themed restaurant that had aliens all inside, but it had closed down.  If it had been open, you can bet we would have been all over that. 

We found a Panera Bread like restaurant and had a wonderful lunch and caught up, before looking at a few stores, which were all ridiculously expensive. How do rich people justify spending that much money on things?? I did end finding a cute bag to take to the wedding though in a rock and roll themed boutique. 

When we tried to find all of Sammy's family later that day, they were hanging out in the hotel bar so we hung out there and I got myself the pina colada that I've been craving for weeks. It was so good :) Then we joined up with all of his family for a birthday celebration. It was in a nice condo and there was amazing food there. It was so great to catch up with all of his family and just hang out. I love how close all of Sammy's family is and how kind there are to me. I felt like a true adult when all of the adults wanted to chat with us ;) 

When we were both exhausted we headed back to our hotel room and I saw people on Twitter freaking out about one of my favorite shows Jane the Virgin. We scrambled with the tv and got it on just in time to see the big reveal. It BLEW MY MIND. To say that I was upset would be an understatement.  

On Saturday we woke up early and headed to a diner for breakfast. The food was AMAZING. I love that Sammy is a morning person like me and that we are both incapable of sleeping in past seven because we're so used to getting up for work. We had eaten, showered, and I'd even painted my nails before the rest of his family had gotten up. 

We went to the pool that morning just the two of us and it was so relaxing. Going on this trip I said the only thing I wanted to do was swim and the whole time I was worried we wouldn't be able to do that because it was so cold. Sitting in the sun while seeing that it was snowing back at home was glorious. All I wished for was a book to read in the sun! I'm so exited to swim all summer at our new place. 

The afternoon was a rush of getting ready and then finding where the wedding was. Everyone was trying to meet up in the hotel lobby before the wedding but since I was taking too long on my hair, we went straight to the wedding which was a good thing. The drinks at the hotel took forever and so Sammy's family got to their seats with only a few minutes to spare. 

The ceremony was absolutely gorgeous. We all kept saying how the view looked like a green screen because of how beautiful it looked. I can't wait to see the couples wedding photos because they are going to be so beautiful. The ceremony was short and sweet, and even had a timeline printed on fans for us which we needed in the sun. 

The wedding and reception were so much fun that I forgot to take pictures the rest of the night. We were so excited when we found our table place cards and they were with the rest of Sammy's cousins around our age. We had so much fun catching up with everyone and dancing with them later. I had a super embarrassing moment where I'd just taken a bite of a meat kabob right when Sammy's dad was introducing me to someone I'd never met before. After we hugged, she told me I had something on my nose. Yep, it was a hunk of meat. 

Dinner was absolutely delicious and then it was dancing time. Except, right when the dancing started, they handed out slices of cake to our table. So of course I went for the cake first. Someone came over and asked us why we weren't dancing and I just pointed to my food. So, I was eating the cake in the dark, and I started eating the fondant and thought that it tasted delicious but saw everyone else taking theres off and not eating it. Are you not supposed to eat it? Because I think it tastes great. 

We finally started dancing and even though I have no idea what I'm doing, I tried and I had fun with Sammy. When the Backstreet Boys came on with this song that was played in that Brooklyn 99 clip, Sammy kept singing it to me like they do in the show. We slow danced to Imagine Dragons, jumped up and down, and just did whatever. We had a great time and were super wiped by the end of the night. It was the funnest wedding we've been to together and I'm so grateful that we could make it.

The next morning we left bright and early for the trip home. It was a long drive, and halfway through Sammy's leg started twitching while he was driving. I took over and honestly thought that I might have to somehow get us the whole way home since it's not advisable to have someone driving whose leg is twitching when you're going 80mph. After he hydrated and stretched and ate, it stopped doing it thank goodness.

I was able to try the famed Whataburger in New Mexico. I've heard so many stories about it, but honestly, it was alright. Now, I just got a simple cheeseburger so that's probably my problem. The spicy ketchup was pretty cool, but as far as cheeseburgers go, I've had better. 

We were so tired of driving and just wanted to get home. So much so that we ended up peeing in a bathroom I'm pretty confident someone died in because it was the only gas station for miles, got stuck in a trucker parking lot, and Sammy ended up accidentally driving over the sidewalk mere feet away from the actual road. We were so glad to be out of the car and home when we made it in just over 12 hours. It was a great trip, but I'm staying close to home for the next while. :)